LAWRENCE — Rodriguez Coleman has worn two numbers in his football career: 88 and 1.

He’s enjoyed putting on No. 1 the last two years for the Kansas football team.

“It’s pretty cool,” the junior receiver said. “You get a lot of attention.”

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Coleman is sure to have plenty of spotlight on him when KU opens the 2014 season in a few months.

Much of the Jayhawks’ success in the receiving game could depend on the Cincinnati native, as he’s currently listed as the starter at the team’s X receiver position.

That spot is important. For one, the X receiver position is usually reserved for tall, strong receivers, and for good reason.

Because that player is required to be on the line of scrimmage, X receivers have to be able to beat press coverage from cornerbacks that try to immediately knock them off their routes.

Working with new receivers coach Eric Kiesau, Coleman has added a few more tricks this season. He’s now working on rip, swim and chop moves — similar techniques to what defensive linemen use to break free against offensive linemen.

Kiesau also is working with Coleman to improve his foot fire. That requires taking a few choppy steps at the line of scrimmage, selling one particular move to the defensive back before releasing the opposite direction.

“I like being backside X,” Coleman said. “It’s a lot of one-on-one action by yourself.”

Coleman’s success also will be important for someone else: teammate Nick Harwell, who will start at the Z position.

If defenses start paying extra attention to Harwell — he had three straight 800-plus-yard receiving seasons at Miami (Ohio) before transferring to KU — that means a safety will most likely roll over to his side, which would leave Coleman with man coverage on the other side of the field.

The opposite is true as well: If Coleman shows he can consistently beat single coverage, defenses could adjust back to his side, which would leave more openings for Harwell.

So far, the spring results for Coleman have been promising; last week, coach Charlie Weis cited him as having the best camp of any Jayhawk.

“He’s done a really nice job,” Weis said. “Now, he’s a long way from being a polished guy, but he’s big, fast and he catches most everything that’s thrown to him. He gets open.”

Almost any production from KU’s receivers would be an improvement over the last two seasons.

In 2012, the Jayhawks’ wideouts went an entire season without a touchdown reception.

They weren’t much better a year ago. Take Tony Pierson out of the mix — he played a dual running back-receiver position last year — and Coleman actually led KU’s wideouts with 208 receiving yards though he only had eight receptions.

“Our numbers last year weren’t good at all, really,” Coleman said. “We were at the bottom of the Big 12. This year, I feel like we have a better chance of moving forward. We have a better shot at being at the top of the Big 12 than at the bottom.”

If KU does move up the receiving ranks, it most likely will have a lot to do with Coleman, who’s sticking with No. 1 this year after wearing 88 in high school in honor of Michael Irvin.

The former Dallas Cowboys receiver made a Hall of Fame career out of playing the X position while routinely beating man coverage.

“I like when they put me one-on-one. It’s the best thing, really,” Coleman said. “If you can’t get open one-on-one, you don’t deserve to play.”